Dartmouth College. Office of the President. Nathan Lord (1828-1863)
Dates
- Usage: 1828 - 1863
Biography
Nathan Lord, Congregational minister, and college president was born November 28, 1792, in Berwick Maine. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1809, went on to attend Andover Theological Seminary, and received a Doctor of Divinity from Bowdoin in 1828. That same year, he also became the 6th president of Dartmouth College. Lord was the longest serving president after John Wheelock remaining in office for a total of 35 years. Lord was an independent thinker and a strict disciplinarian.
Dartmouth, which had been suffering financially ever since the attempted takeover of the institution by the State of New Hampshire, saw considerable growth during Lord's tenure. Lord established the first alumni association and raised $50,000 to build Thornton and Wentworth Halls. He also significantly increased student enrollment.
The issue of slavery in the United States became paramount during Lord's tenure. While his initial inclination was toward the abolition of slavery, he served as a vice president of the New Hampshire Auxiliary Colonization Society, and later he briefly held the position of Vice President, representing New Hampshire, in the American Anti-Slavery Society. But, by the late 1840s he claimed no abolitionist associations. In 1854, Lord anonymously published the first of three pro-slavery pamphlets, which argued that slavery was condoned by God through the scripture. In 1862 he published a third piece "A True Picture of Abolition" in which he accused abolitionists of being responsible for the Civil War. This landed him in hot water with a group of anti-slavery ministers in New Hampshire who petitioned the Trustees to consider his removal. The Trustees declined to take this action, but instead issued a statement distancing College from Lord and his views. In response, Lord tendered his resignation, which was eventually accepted by the Board.
Found in 122 Collections and/or Records:
Nathan Lord letter
In English.
Nathan Lord letter
In English.
Nathan Lord letter
In English.
Nathan Lord letter
Letter from Nathan Lord at Dartmouth College to Roswell Shurtleff, enclosing the resolution passed by the Dartmouth College trustees on Shurtleff's proposed gift of $ 1000 for the library. Enclosure filed with Mss 852430.
Nathan Lord letter
Letter from Nathan Lord at Dartmouth College to Joseph How Tyler on behalf of the faculty, writer requests that Tyler delivert a Master's oration a the next commencement.
Nathan Lord letter
Letter from Nathan Lord at Dartmouth College to Nathaniel Wright, "N.Wright Jr.'s Merit Roll"
Nathan Lord letter
Four-page letter from Nathan Lord in Hanover, New Hampshire to D. Tyler with a discourse on holy love and mysteries of theology as well as about his fears for the Amnerican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
Nathan Lord letter
Letter from Nathan Lord in Hanover, New Hampshire to Richard Fletcher, telling him that he hopes he will be able to attend the upcoming Trustees meeting.
Nathan Lord letter
Two-page letter from Nathan Lord at Dartmouth College to Henry L. Hitchcock, recommending Elliot Tucker Merrick as of excellent character and scholarship and competent for addressee's service.
Nathan Lord letter
Three-page letter from Nathan Lord in Hanover, New Hampshire to Francis Brown Lord with advice to his son on general conduct.(Photocopy)
Nathan Lord letter
Two-page letter from Nathan Lord at Dartmouth College to John Lord, telling him that he cannot visit addressee, invites addressee to Commencement.
Nathan Lord letter
Letter of recommendation for Albert Palmer by Nathan Lord.
Nathan Lord letter
Letter from Nathan Lord at Dartmouth College to Henry Fairbanks, telling him that the trustees have elected Fairbanks professor of natural philosophy.
Nathan Lord letter
Letter from Nathan Lord to William Thayer, telling him that he confers degree of Master of Arts on addressee.
Nathan Lord letter
Letter from Nathan Lord in Hanover, New Hampshire to Franklin Pierce in Concord, New Hampshire, in which he informs Mr. Pierce of an honorary degree bestowed upon him by Dartmouth College.
Nathan Lord letter
Letter from Nathan Lord in Hanover, New Hampshire to John P. Hale, informing him that he has been awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws (honorary) by Dartmouth College.
Nathan Lord letter
Two-page letter from Nathan Lord at Dartmouth College to Sylvannus Thayer, telling him that four boxes of books have arrived as a gift from Thayer. The books, to be deported to the College Library, will be of special benefit for the military engineering course. With this is "Catalogue of books...presented by Col. Thayer" (7 pages)
Nathan Lord letter
Four-page letter from Nathan Lord in Hanover, New Hampshire to Harriet Beecher Stowe, answering her letter to him of May 26 seeking information about her father's second wife Harriet Porter. (Photocopy)
Nathan Lord letter
Four-page letter from Nathan Lord in Hanover, New Hampshire to John Lord, regarding honorary degrees, his role in voting down a proposal to give Abraham Lincoln an honorary degree and the report of the Merrimack County Conference of Congregational Churches resolutions, and writer's resignation from the presidency of Dartmouth College.
Nathan Lord letter
Two-page letter from Nathan Lord to Joseph Leland Lord, telling him that the trustees accept resolutions of a Committee on the resolutions of the Merrimac County ministers stating, among other things, that the College might be relied on to be true to the antislavery abolition policy. Writer thereupon resigned as president because "I could not resign my principles."